Art Meets Enterprise: The Arts Council
of Greater Greensboro’s Professional Development Hub
The
Professional Development Hub (PDH), an initiative of The Arts Council of
Greater Greensboro supported by Guilford County as part of the New Creative
Investment and by the Guilford Merchants Association/First Point, is equipping
artists with business skills.
With a
comprehensive pipeline of workshops and professional opportunities for visual
artists, musicians, performers, and other creatives, the PDH starts with a
survey and ends with sustainable business practices. Since the survey was
launched in December 2023, 110 artists have completed a survey to place them
with relevant programming, with 107 individual artists participating in various
PDH offerings.
The PDH has
hosted a range of events, including:
- Triangle ArtWorks: The Art and Entrepreneurship
6-week intensive, the first PDH offering, began in February 2024.
- Getting the Grant for Creatives: A workshop for securing
funding.
- SCORE Lecture Series: A 4-part series on “The
Business of Starting a Non-Profit for Creatives.”
- Artist Happy Hours: Four networking events, with
three held at LeBauer Park and one at Revolution Mill.
·
Lunch
and Learn with Scott Rempe:
How to value your art and creative services
Scott
Rempe: Leading Artists in Building Sales, Marketing, and Networking Skills
Scott Rempe
is one of the instructors who has led workshops for the PDH. As Senior VP of
Sales and Marketing at Excalibur and as an illustrator, he can relate to both
sides of the coin of art entrepreneurship.
Hosting Lunch
and Learns for artists through the Professional Development Hub, he brings his
30+ years of sales and marketing experience to his creative work as an
illustrator and assists artists who may struggle with the business side of
their practice in navigating sales and marketing – Teaching them to view
themselves as a small business.
Zsuzsi
Winn: From Workshops to a Solo Exhibition
Zsuzsi Winn
is an artist who started attending Professional Development Hub events. With
her background as a Furniture Photo Stylist, she had one big dream – To become
a full-time artist. She prepared herself for a year and then made that jump. Over
that time, she has tuned her painting skills and launched her first collection
of landscape paintings, with the Professional Development Hub guiding her
through the experience. “You have to make sure you treat your art like a true
business,” says Winn. “How you present yourself as a professional, your
website, and your branding matters. You can create the most beautiful artwork,
but you need to know how to sell it and market it”. Winn recently hosted her
first solo show, activating space at High Point’s historic JH Adams Inn. With
more partnerships on the horizon with the High Point Furniture Market, Winn
continues to invest in her creative career.
Art is
business. With these offerings and more on the horizon, the PDH continues to
support and uplift artists, helping them to cultivate both creative and
business excellence.